Frank James Lampard, Jr. (born 20 June 1978 in Romford, London) is an English football midfielder currently playing for Premier League club Chelsea and the England national team. He is the club's active scoring leader with 115 goals, the highest ever for a Chelsea midfielder. He is also the highest goal scorer in the Premier League for a midfielder.
Frank Lampard was born into a footballing family. He is the son of Frank Lampard, Sr., a former England fullback and two-time FA Cup winner with West Ham United His mother, Pat, died of pneumonia on 24 April 2008, and his goal celebration currently consists of pointing to the sky and looking upwards as a tribute.
His uncle is Portsmouth coach Harry Redknapp, and his cousin, Jamie Redknapp, spent twelve seasons with Liverpool and earned seventeen caps for England before retiring in 2005.
Lampard joined West Ham, where his father was the assistant coach, as an apprentice in July 1994 as part of their youth system, and signed his professional forms a year later. He was loaned to Division Two team Swansea City in October 1995.
Following the sale of teammate and friend Rio Ferdinand to Leeds United after the 2000-01 season, combined with the departures of his father and Redknapp, Lampard followed suit and left West Ham, but chose to stay home in London by joining Chelsea for an £11 million fee.
Lampard's Premiership debut with Chelsea came on August 19, 2001 in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle United, while his first red card came in a match against Tottenham Hotspur on September 16, and he scored a total of seven goals in all competitions. He netted the match-winner in Chelsea's 2002-03 season opener against Charlton Athletic, and scored his first European goal in a UEFA Cup loss to Viking FK. Lampard appeared in all of Chelsea's league matches and finished with a one-goal improvement over the 2001-02 season.